Yesterday was the first day of NaNoWriMo and i only got around 800 words written. I realize that by having so many ideas (trust me — I’m full of them!) I’m having a difficult time getting to the action part of my story. It’s like when you have this big grand idea, it’s difficult to focus on the little details. I just want to TELL the story not SHOW the story, which I realize isn’t the path to a good novel.

So instead of jumping in, I spent yesterday writing about who I think will be the main character’s mother and what she was like growing up. Not the best way to get a reader hooked, so I’ll have to develop a better introduction/first line.

Also, as is normal with me, when I went to bed last night thoughts were racing through my head. One of the more prominent ideas I thought about a bit was having some sort of a story-within-a-story… though I fear it’s maybe a bit cliche a bit? So I’ll want to think of something new to bring to the idea. I also want to make sure that I’m not copying too much from favorite books of mine like Glamorama or The Blind Assassin.

Tonight I’m not writing with my coworkers (we’re only doing Tuesdays and Thursdays) so I’ll have to make a very conscious effort to sit down and write when I get home. And since I didn’t make it to the magical 1667 yesterday, I’ll want to write a little extra to make up for it.

Which reminds me: I need to find some website where I can enter my daily total and it spits out neato graphs and predictions and stuff. I had an Excel worksheet for that last time, but this time I want to make it available online.

Also: Thanks everyone for encouragement!! I especially feel like my friends Molly and Brook and Shannon will keep me motivated. And all of the Facebook likes help, as well!